| Time: | 7.00pm | Place: | Committee Room 3, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City |
| PRESENT: | Councillor T.W. Hone (Chairman), Councillor Ian Mantle, Councillor Mrs L.A. Needham, Councillor Lawrence Oliver and Councillor R.A.C. Thake. |
| IN ATTENDANCE: | Strategic Director of Finance, Policy and Governance, Head of Revenues, Benefits and IT, Systems & Technical Manager, Revenues Manager and Committee and Member Services Officer. |
| ALSO PRESENT: |
| Item | Description/Resolution | Status | Action | |
| PART I | ||||
| 1 |
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE There were no apologies for absence. |
Noted | ||
| 2 |
MINUTES Minutes RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 28 February 2013 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and signed by the Chairman. |
Agreed | ||
| 3 |
NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS There was no notification of other business. |
Noted | ||
| 4 |
CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS The Chairman reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question. |
Noted | ||
| 5 |
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION There was no public participation. |
Noted | ||
| 6 |
COUNCIL TAX BASE 2014/2015 Report Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C The Committee considered a report of the Head of Revenues, Benefits and Information Technology seeking approval of the Council Tax Base for 2014/2015. The report contained the following appendices: Appendix A - Council Tax Base by Parish 2014/15; Appendix B - Variations in Council Tax levels by Parish; and Appendix C - Example of Council Tax Base calculation for Letchworth Garden City. The Committee was informed that the abolition of Council Tax Benefit and a new way of providing support for Council Tax to low income families through the introduction of locally based Council Tax Reduction Schemes had meant that there had been changes to the way that the Council Tax Base was calculated from 2013/2014 onwards. The Committee noted that, since the implementation of Council Tax in 1993 and the 2013 changes, Council Tax Benefit had been a demand-led Benefit, where the Council reduced liability to those who qualified and the subsequent shortfall in the Collection Fund was reimbursed through Council Tax Benefit Subsidy on a pound for pound basis (allowing for any Subsidy Penalties). From 2013/2014, there had been no Council Tax Benefit Subsidy and the local Council Tax Reduction Schemes would be funded from a cash limited Council Tax Reduction Scheme Grant, which was paid directly to each Major Precepting Authority (in this Council's case the County Council, District Council and Police & Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire). A similar Grant was also paid to Local Precepting Authorities (Parish, Town and Community Councils) through funding initially paid to the District Council, which it was then encouraged to distribute to the relevant Local Precepting Authorities. The Committee further noted that, from 2014/15 onwards, this "Grant" was no longer separately identified and was rolled in with the overall financial settlement announced just before Christmas. For the purposes of setting the 2014/15 Tax Base, it had been assumed that the funding levels would remain the same as for 2013/14. The Committee was advised that the legislation required the District Council to agree with its Local Precepting Authorities how the Grant should be distributed and this was the basis of the discussion at the Parish Conference held on 23 October 2013. At its meeting on 10 December 2013 Cabinet resolved: "That, in considering the level of funding for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme in 2014/2015 and the amount to be delegated to the Local Precepting Authorities, the Strategic Director of Finance, Policy and Governance and the Portfolio Holder for Finance and I.T. take into consideration Cabinet's view that any change should reflect the overall final financial settlement." Although the final decision on the total funding to Local Councils would be taken by the Council later in January 2014, an assumption had needed to be made at this stage based on the clear Cabinet view that this should reflect any overall changes in Government support. This had implications for the way in which the Local Precepting Authorities used the Council Tax Base to calculate the level of their individual precepts. The Committee was informed that the overall reduction in Government Support was 12.84%, which when applied to the funding of £90,850 for Local Councils in 2013/2014, reduced this amount to £79,185 for 2014/2015. In all cases, each Precepting Authority was expected to reduce its Council Tax Requirement (Precept) by the amount of Council Tax Reduction Scheme Grant awarded, as this was now paid directly to them. Appendix B to the report showed the level of Band D Council Tax for each Parish for 2014/2015. without the 12.84% reduction. compared with the reduction based on the same level of Precepts. This meant that the funding for Council Tax Reduction Schemes was now effectively removed from the Collection Fund, and therefore there had to be an adjustment to the Tax Base, otherwise too much revenue would be raised through Council Tax payments. Whilst the Council Tax Base had always had adjustments for Discounts and Exemptions, it had never previously made any allowance for Council Tax Benefit, as this had been directly reimbursed into the Collection Fund. The Committee was further informed that, to achieve this, the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012 introduced an additional element into the Council Tax Base calculation, referred to as item "Z". Item "Z" was the Council's estimate of the amount of Council Tax Reduction Scheme support to be awarded within each Council Tax Band within each Local Precepting Council area and the District as a whole. This figure was then converted into an equivalent number of properties, which was then deducted from the total, thereby reducing the Tax Base. This meant that there had to be a completely different approach taken to calculating item "Z" as there had to be an assumption of the level of Council Tax to be charged in order to estimate the amount of Council Tax Reduction Scheme support. Previously, the Council Tax Base was used to calculate the amount of Council Tax to be charged, whereas now an estimate of the amount of Council Tax charged had to be made in order to calculate the Council Tax Base. The Committee noted that advice received from the County Council was that they were unlikely to increase Council Tax levels in 2014/2015. NHDC and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire were both considering whether to increase Council Tax levels in 2014/2015. For the purposes of calculating the Tax Base, therefore, the same Council Tax levels had been assumed for 2014/2015 as for 2013/2014. A 2% increase in Council Tax for the District Council and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire would increase the overall level of Council Tax by around £7.00 per annum for Band D. This would result in an increase of Council Tax Reduction of around £34,000, which was well within the expected underspend of the budget, currently estimated at around £195,000. In respect of Council Tax Exemptions and Discounts, the Committee was reminded that, at its meeting held on 13 December 2012, the Council had opted to apply a zero% Discount to empty properties undergoing structural repairs and a zero% Discount after twenty-eight days to other properties, which were empty and substantially unfurnished from 1 April 2013. These properties were previously Exempt from Council Tax and consequently because they would now be liable for Council Tax, this had increased the Council Tax Base. These changes to Discounts and Exemptions were now fully embedded in the Council Tax Base calculation. The Committee was advised that, in setting its Council Tax Base, the Council had always had to decide on its expected level of non-collection, and this had not changed under the new arrangements. However, there was now an option for residents to pay Council Tax in 12 monthly instalments which resulted in payments being received over a longer time period. For many years, the Council had assumed a non-collection rate of 1%. However, when considering the non-collection rate, there were a number of factors, other than eventually non-collected payments, which would impact on the collection rate as follows:- (i) The level of successful appeals against banding valuations; (ii) The impact of new properties coming into tax which may not be valued until the following year; (iii) The number of disablement applications, Discounts and Exemptions. The Committee noted that any surplus (or deficit) on the Council Tax Collection Fund was split between the major precepting authorities (the County Council, Hertfordshire Police and this Council) in proportion to the relative level of precept on the fund (approximately 76:10:14 County/Police/District in 2013/2014). The surplus could only be used to reduce (or increase in the case of a deficit) Council Tax bills in 2014/2015, but whereas the District proportion of the surplus reduced bills only in North Hertfordshire, the County and Police proportions were dissipated across the whole of Hertfordshire. The actual impact on bills would, therefore, depend not only upon the collection performance of NHDC, but of that of all other Hertfordshire authorities as well. The Committee was informed that collection performance in 2013/2014 had remained in line with the estimated position, despite the current economic climate. It was expected that, because many families who previously received 100% Council Tax Benefit would from 2013/2014 have to pay a proportion of their Council Tax, this could affect the collection rate, and so Council Tax arrears would increase. However, to date, this did not appear to have happened. The Committee noted that analysis of the Council's collection performance had showed that actual collection could expect to reach 99,5% within three years and 99,9% within ten years. On that basis, Officers were recommending that the non-collection rate should remain at 1% for 2014/2015. RESOLVED: (1) That a non-collection rate of 1% for 2014/2015 be approved; and (2) That the amount calculated by this Council as its Council Tax Base for 2014/2015 shall be £46,977.90 in total, and that the individual sums shown for each Parish, as set out in Appendix A to the report, be agreed. REASON FOR DECISION: To fulfil the statutory requirement to set a Council Tax Base for the District and to enable Major and Local Precepting Authorities to set their levels of Council Tax for 2014/2015. |
Agreed | ||
| 7 |
NATIONAL NON-DOMESTIC RATE RETURN 1 - 2014/15 Report Addendum Report Appendix 1 The Head of Revenues, Benefits and Information Technology advised that a draft version of the NNDR1 had been received after dispatch of the agenda for this meeting and tabled an addendum report which included information now available. He further advised that the final version of the NNDR1 would be published on 17 January 2014. The Committee considered the addendum report of the Head of Revenues, Benefits and Information Technology in respect of the National Non-Domestic Rate (NNDR) Return 1 for 2014/2015. The report contained the following appendix: Appendix 1 - NNDR 1 Return. The Committee was advised that the Council had always had a requirement to make an NNDR1 Return to the Secretary of State each year, this being the Council's estimate of the likely income from Non-Domestic Rates for the following financial year. There had not been a requirement, until last year, for that Return to be approved by Members. The Committee noted that, in December 2011, the Government had published its proposals for a Business Rates Retention Scheme alongside the introduction of the Local Government Finance Bill, which became an Act of Parliament in November 2012. The intention of this proposal was to ensure that a proportion of Non-Domestic Rates was locally retained. In November 2012, the Government issued a Policy Statement reflecting its desire to see the Business Rates Retention Scheme at the heart of its reform agenda aimed at achieving two of its key priorities: economic growth and localism. The Committee further noted that the amount to be retained by Billing Authorities, and the amount to be paid to Central Government and Major Precepting Authorities, was to be fixed at the start of the financial year on the basis of the Billing Authority's estimate of its Non-Domestic Rating income for the year (the NNDR1 Return). For this reason, the Government had decided that this return should now be subject to approval by Members. The basis on which a Billing Authority was to make that estimate was set out in regulations made under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1988. The Committee was informed that, the calculation of Non-Domestic Rating income for the year could be found in Schedule 1 of the Non-Domestic Rating (Rates Retention) Regulations (the Retention Regulations). The Regulations required Billing Authorities to calculate the sum due, for that year, and inform: (a) The Secretary of State in respect of the "central share" of their Non-Domestic Rating income; and (b) Their Major Precepting Authorities. Following the Autumn Statement, the DCLG confirmed the intention to amend the NNDR1 Return to reflect the changes to Non-Domestic Rates announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer which included: - A Cap on the increase in Business Rates to 2% in 2014/15. Treasury to fund the difference between cap and RPI; - A further one year extension of the doubling of the Small Business Rate Relief (SBBR) to April 2015 - SBBR would be retained for one year when a company took on an additional premises, which would up to now have resulted in SBBR being lost; - A discount of up to £1,000 against Business Rates bills for retail purposes (including pubs, cafes, restaurants and charity shops) with a rateable value of up to £50,000 in 2014-15 and 2015-16; and - A 50% discount from Business Rates for new occupants of previously empty retail premises for 18 Months. The relief would be granted to businesses moving into long-term empty retail properties on or after 1 April 2014 and on or before 31 March 2016.. The Committee noted that Appendix 1 to the report illustrated the provisional 2014/15 NNDR 1 Return. The final version of the NNDR1 would not be published until 17 January 2014 and the final certified copy was required to be submitted by no later than 31 January 2014. The tight timescales would not enable Members to consider the final version, therefore it was recommended that any necessary changes to the final version of the NNDR1 be delegated to the Strategic Director of Finance, Policy and Governance in consultation with the Chairman of the Council Tax Setting Committee. The methodology and assumptions made in respect of the NNDR 1 Return were set out in Section 8.2 of the report, and were explained by the Systems and Technical Manager, who answered a number of Members' questions. Financial and risk implications, as set out in Sections 10 and 11 of the report, were debated. RESOLVED: (1) That the National Non-Domestic Rate (NNDR) 1 Return, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report, be approved; and (2) That any amendments required on the Return resulting from changes to the form and additional guidance to be published on 17 January 2014 be delegated to the Strategic Director of Finance, Policy and Governance, in consultation with the Chairman of the Council Tax Setting Committee. REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with statutory requirements. |
Agreed | ||